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Saturday, September 20, 2008

DIGGING LORCA

by James Penha


"One of Spain's most enduring literary mysteries could soon be solved after the descendants of Federico García Lorca dropped their longstanding objections to unearthing the mass grave where the poet's remains are believed to lie. 'We will not oppose it,' said Laura García Lorca, the poet's niece. 'Although we would prefer it weren't done, we respect the wishes of the other parties involved.'”
--Thomas Catán, Times Online, September 19, 2008


Do these soggy bones matter
more than Bernarda’s broken
cane or New York
tenements or a perfect pair of olives
in hand? For if we hold, Federico,
your delicate fingers, trace the lines
of your lips with our fingers,
and hear your inspiration
even now, we have no need
for the palpable
to imagine you.

Exhumation reminds me more
of the next innocent
to die wordlessly
in a ditch.


James Penha edits The New Verse News.
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